A prominent figure in motor racing has harshly criticized Valtteri Bottas' continued fitness for a Formula 1 racing spot.
Amidst ongoing speculation concerning Bottas' career prospects, the Finnish driver acknowledged ahead of the August break that the current environment at Sauber is not "stable."
"There's been lots of people leaving, lots of people joining, now another change in the leadership," the 34-year-old remarked regarding Mattia Binotto's arrival. "So for sure that doesn't help the here and now moment."
"It's been pretty clear, to me, that all the decisions in the last year or two has been made to be competitive from 2026. But my job is still to do the very best I can and contribute the best I can. That's all I can do at the moment," Bottas added.
With Audi taking over Sauber, they initially showed great interest in Carlos Sainz for the 2025 seat next to Nico Hulkenberg, while also considering other drivers such as Mick Schumacher and now even the retired Sebastian Vettel.
"Seb is suddenly of interest to Audi again," Dr Helmut Marko told the Osterreich newspaper, though he later noted that Schumacher was mentioned concurrently.
"What is certain is that he (Vettel) wants to race in F1 again," stated Red Bull's F1 consultant and Vettel's initial mentor and boss.
Bottas, in a scenario with arguably awkward timing, will relinquish his Sauber seat to Ferrari test driver and rookie Robert Shwartzman during the first practice session at Zandvoort.
Dutch racing figure and driver Tom Coronel believes that Bottas should permanently leave his spot.
"It's always difficult when you go from the best team to the worst team, but he chose that himself," he shared with Dutch magazine Formule 1. "I honestly think it's a shame."
"Do something else!" Coronel urged Bottas. "Go to Finland and do fun things and make funny videos, and give this seat to someone who needs it to gain experience and grow. All he's doing is destroying the careers of the young ones. Zero world championship points? Get out of here! We call it ageing, and it's like fish and fruit - at some point it starts to rot."
